Combined belt tightener and fastener.



PATENTED MAR. 20, 1906.

APPLIKOATION FILED 0OT.21, 1905.

. 2 SHBBTS-SEEBT 1.

anar/ing N.`815,341. l PATENTED MAR. 20, 1906.

` A. FLEEGER. v n

GOMINED BELTTIGHTENERAND FASTENBR. APPLICATION FILED 00T.21, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z. l

gusanito@ wh/Wage@ Witwe/no .UNITED STATES] PATENT Omron.

.AUSTIN FLEEGER,

onor-1100EA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED yBELT lTIGHTENEFI AND FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

y, Application filed October 21, 1905.- Serial No. 283,752.'

T all whom, it may concern: i

. v 'Beit known that I, AUSTIN FLEEGER, a citizen'of the United States, residing at Chicora,

1n the county ofButler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Belt Tightener and Fastener, of which the following is a specification, reference being the accompanying drawings.

yThis. invention relates to combined belt had therein to tighteners and fasteners, and has for its object to produce( a structure capable of combining these two Yfunctions 1n such away that 1t maybe readily used'for the purpose of tightening or taking up the slack of the belt Y, when necessary, -servlng also as a fastener for I connecting the ends of the belt when the belt belts employed in the oil regions, which are sometimes twelve inches in width and ninety Y feet 1n length. These belts stretch in use, so

that it becomes necessary to frequently stop the engine, disconnect the belt, cut out a piece estimated to restore the belt to the proper length, andthen again fasten the ends of the belt and replace the belt;

tionrequires two or three people hours time andis diiiicult to out. The construction which' and several properly carry I havev devised enables a single operator to tighten the belt to the exact degree required 1n a very few 'minutes' To these endsmy invention consists in cer- A tain novel features whlchl wlll now proceed to describe and will then out in the claims.A a y In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a structure having my improved tightenerand fastener applied thereto in one form, the same being shown during particularly point i the operation of tightening or removing the slack from the belt.. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the same structure with the' de- .l vice applledthereto and used as a fastener. to Y connect the endsofthe beltwhen in use.- Fig.

' 3 is'- av central longitudinal sectional `view Fig. 4 is a plan view of couplingdetached.

' taken ina vertical plane through'the device l and lts connections,` las shown in Fig. 1, the

parts being shown on an enlargedfscale; and

Referring lto ,said drawings, [Iv have illustrated a coupling (shown separatelyin Fig. 4)

`which connects the ends of the belt whenin This operathe fastener proper or A `cross-bars 6 and 7 are preferably round in cross-section, while thecross-bars 8 are preferably flat and located immediately adjacent to the cross-bars 7. Each member is provided at its inner end with a cross-piece 9 Patented March 20, 1906.

forming a uide around which the belt passes, f

the same eing preferably inthe forml of a roller mounted to rotate in the side pieces 5 ofthe frame. y.Above each-roller 9 there fis located an eccentrically-mounted roller 10, the portion whereof which has the maximum eccentricity being provided, 'if desired, with a tooth 11 or/being otherwise roughened to give it `a better grip. The ends of the belt are connected to thisfastener in the manner. indicated in Fig. 2 and at the right hand vof y Fig. 3. The belt is indicated by the reference-numeral 12, and its two ends'are respec y tively connected to the two members 1 and 2 bypassing said ends under the cross-bar 8,

over the cross-bar 7, under the cross-bar 6, around' the guide or pulley 9, and then back between thecross-bars 7 and 8 above the lap of the belt. already in place there.- The friction of the belt against the cross-pieces and of the two parts of the'belt against veach other, particularlybetween the cross-bars 7 andi 8,' tends to keep the belt from slipping V through the fastener, but the ends are positively held by so turning the eccentric rollers as `tocause them to grip lthe belt against the guides 9, 'the arrangement being such thatA the stronger the pull upon the belt the more iirm is thevv grip ofthe rollers. When thus IOO employed as a fastener, it will be seen thatl thebelt is held without requiring the cuttin or punching of any holes therethrou han that the belt need not be of any exact ength, since the ends thereof maybe passed around vor tucked' through the cross-bars and may extend beyond the same.

Referring` now to the use of theldevice as a belt-tightener, assuming that the belt, arranged 'as shown'in Fig. 2, has become slack, the following procedure is had to remove the slack: The end of the belt in one of the mem- IIO bers-say, for instance, the member 1, which l lies nearest the driving-pulley or band-wheel 13-is .withdrawn from under the cross-bar 8 and is gripped between the jaws 14 and 15 of a clamp 16. In the present instance I have shown this clamp as so constructed that the jaw 14 is in one piece with the body of the clamp, while the jaw 15 is drawn against it to grip the belt by means of a screw or bolt 17. The clamp 16 has an eye .18 or is otherwise so constructed as to permit its ready connection with a rope or cable 19, preferably a wire rope. 20 indicates an elevated support, preferably one of the roof-beams of the belthouse, from which there is suspended a pulley 21. The rope or cable 19 passes over this pulley and is thence carried downward to the driving-pulley or band-wheel 13, its lower i end being provided with a hook 22 or other suitable means, bygwhich it may be readily engaged with an eccentric-pin 23 on the side of said driving-pulley. The driven pulley is indicated at 24. nected, the gripping-roller 10 is so turned as to release the belt in the member 1, whereupon the engine is turned over or caused to rotate slowly. This will rotate the driving-pulley 13 in the direction indicated by the arrow and will cause the rope 19 to exert a pull upon the belt in the direction indicated by the arrows lying adjacent to said belt. This pull tightens the belt, removing the slack, and is continued until the belt has reached the desired tension, whereupon the engine is stopped and the gripping-roller of the member lis turned down, so as to grip the belt andprevent it from slipping back. The ends of the rope`19 are then disconnected from the belt and pin 23, respectively, the portion of the end of the belt pulled through the tightener is tucked down between thebars 7 and 8, and the belt is again ready for use.

It will be seen that the operation of tightening thebelt can be performed in a very brief period of'time and by a single o erator. This latter feature is of importance w 1ere, as

is frequently the case, a single operator is einployed during the night-time and the belt accidentally slips oli or becomes too slackfor use. Ordinarily in such a case the plant remains idle during the rest of the night until help can be obtained. The construction which I have described, however, enables the operator to at once either tighten or replace the belt 'unaided It will be further observed that when the fastener is once in place it need not be removed from the belt, but

vmay remain in position thereon indefinitely or until a new belt is required, acting as a fastener for the ends when the belt is at work and as a means for aiding in the removing of slack when such removal is necessary. A still further advantage is that no cutting of the belt is required, as with the usual con- The parts being thus construction, where the two ends of the belt are united at their extremities and any surplus must be cut away. Usually this tightening and cutting operation occurs at frequent intervals, and the portions cut from the ends of the belt are so small as to be practically useless. With my improved construction no cutting is necessary, and each portion of slack gained adds to the size of the end drawn out by the tightening mechanism, so that eventually the surplus of belting at this end is of a size such as to have some commercial value in case it is desired to remove it.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction hereinbefore described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, as it is obvious that these details may be varied without departing from the principle of my invention,

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Driving and driven pulleys, a belt, and a coupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener which unites said ends when the belt is in use, said coupling being provided with a guide and means for holding and releasing said. ends, in combination with a rope or other flexible connection, a guidingpulley around which said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to the driving-pulley and the other end of said rope to the adjacent end of the belt, the belt end thus connected passing around the guide on the coupling, substantially as described.

2. Driving and driven pulleys, a belt, and a coupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener which unites said ends when the belt is in use, said coupling being provided with guides around which the belt ends pass, and with eccentric grippingrollers cooperating with said guides, in combination with a rope or other iiexible connection, a guiding-pulley around which said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to the driving-pulley and the other end of said rope to the adjacent end of the belt, substantially as described.

3. Driving and driven pulleys, a belt, and a coupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener which unites said ends when the belt is in use, said coupling being provided with guide-rollers around which the belt ends pass, and with coperating eccentric gripping-rollers, in combination with a rope or other iiexible connection, a guidingpulley aroundwhich said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to the driving-pulley and the other end of said rope to the adjacent end of the belt, substantially as described.

4. Driving and drivenv pulleys, a belt, and a coupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener which unites said lOO IIO

ating eccentric gripping-roller, in combina- 2O ends when the beltA is in use, said coupling comprising two hinged members, each vhaving a guide around which the corresponding belt end passes, and means for gripping said belt end, incombination with a ro e or other ieXible connection, a guiding-pu ley around which said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to the drivingpulley and the other end of said ro e to the adjacent end of the belt, substantia ly as described. j

l 5. Driving and driven pulleys, a belt, and a coupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener which unites said ends when the belt is in use, said coupling comprising two hingedmembers, each provided with a guide-roller around which the corresponding belt end passes, and a copertion with a rope or other flexible connection,

a guiding pulley around which said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to the driving-pulley and the other I endl of saidrope to the adjacent end of the belt, substantially as described.

y6. Driving'and driven pulleys, a belt, and

acoupling connecting the ends of the belt and forming a belt-fastener lwhich unites said ends when the belt is in use, said coupling comprising guides around which the corresponding belt ends pass, means for gripping said belt ends, and means for holding the surplus end portions of the belt, in combination with a rope or other ieXible connection, a guidingpulley around which said rope passes, and means for connecting one end of said rope to they driving-pulley and the other end of said rope' to the adjacent end of the belt, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

`AUSTIN FLEEGER.

Witnesses DAVID I. FRANKLIN,

H. G. -DUNLArn`r 

